This application is a continuationin part of application Ser. No. 49,055 filed November 9, 1935, for Construction of rubber articles.

My present invention relates to medical apparatus and has particular reference to catheters and other articles having inflatable walls.

It is the principal object of my invention to provide a rubber article of integral construction having an interior recess in the walls thereof, whereby part of the wall may be inflated if desired.

It is a further object of my invention to specifically apply the improved construction to a catheter, in order to obtain a retaining or internal treatment catheter having an integral inflatable bulb.

It is a further object of my vide a novel construction for obtaining wall recesses in any dipped article without using separate articlepieces which must be cemented toether.

With the above and other object and advantageous features in view, my invention consists of a novel article, more fully disclosed in the detailed description following, in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, and more specifically defined in the claims appended thereto. In the drawing, which shows the invention as specifically applied to a catheter,

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a novel catheter embodying the principle of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a section of Fig. 1 on the line 2-2' thereof;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 44 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a novel dip rod;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a novel wire form used in conjunction therewith;

Fig. 11 is a perspective view showing an intermediate stage of construction;

' Fig. 12 is a view, partly broken away, showing the completed novel inflatable portion as it appears when inflated; and

Fig. 13 is an enlarged sectional view of a modifled construction providing a funnel inlet.

It has been found-desirable to manufacture rubber articles, and particularly articles intended for medical and surgical use so as to provide an integral article having inflatable wall portions, the inflatable portions being independently controllable. For example, an internal treatment catheter requires a flow channel for the passage invention to proof treating fluid, and is made with an inflatable bulb portion according to my invention, which permits an independent inflation of the bulb so as to retain the catheter in treatment position, and to permit use of the catheter as a yielding massage instrument or the like if desired. Catheters of this type have heretofore been made in several pieces which are cemented together, thus producing undesirable seams which hinder introduction of the catheter, in addition to the danger of the seams separating and coming apart.

I have therefore devised a method for manui'acturing an integral, one piece bulb catheter, utilizing a dip form such as a rod ill, see Fig. 5, which has a longitudinal groove I I. This dip rod is dipped a predetermined number of times in latex, which may be prevulcanized or unvulcanized, to obtain a coat l2, see Fig. 8; a wire form l3, see Fig. 6, having a manually graspable bent end l4, and a bent end l5 which is breakable from the wire l3 at a point ii of reduced area, is then positioned in the groove ll over the latex formed-therein, as indicated in Fig. 9, and held in place in any desired manner, as by thin spaced latex bands. The form and wire are then dipped again, whereby a thick coat ll, see Fig. 10 is formed, the form and coat at this stage of manufacture having the appearance shown in Fig. 11. A portion it of the coat of any suitable width such as indicated by the letter A is then painted .with a local curing agent, such as a solution of sulphur chloride gas in alcohol or a solution of bromine gas in alcohol, the solution providing a surface cure for the painted portion l8. The article is then allowed to dry to facilitate handling; the end I5 is then broken off, and the dipping resumed to produce the completed catheter l9 shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the catheter bein'g'dried and then cured, the rod lfl and wire l3 then being withdrawn.

The completed catheter, see Fig. 2, thus consists of an elongated tube which has an integral independent passageway 20 formed in the wall thereof, the passageway 20 terminating between spaced walls i8 and 2| which provide a space or recess 22 therebetweendue to the initial curing of the portion l8, whereby a bulb 23 is formed which may be inflated, as indicated in Fig. 12, by forcing air or other fluid under pressure through the passageway 20. An eye 2| is preferably formed in the catheter tip 25 between the end and the inflatable bulb at the end of the catheter, the eye communicating with the main catheter passageway 26. A small flexible tube may, if desired, be used in place of the wire 13;

area and restricting It is desirable for certain uses to provide a funnel entrance to the passageway 20. This is readily accomplished by mounting a funnel or cone shaped member 21 on the end of the passageway wire form, see Fig. 13; the end is designated 28 and is preferably made longer than member 21 to receive the member 21, which slides over it to a point adjacent the linear central portion of the wire form, a kink 29 being provided near the inner portion of the end 28 to releasably lock the member in place. If desired, the free end of the end 28 may be made longer and bent over to twist around the rod ill, or to engage a hook placed thereon, so as to keep the end and the funnel shaped member seated thereon in fixed relation to the rod iii. The completed dipping of the catheter thus provides the end 30 with a boss having a funnel inlet for the bulb passageway.

The breakable end i5 may be omitted if de sired; an opening for the end of the passageway 29 may then be made, after the local curing solution is applied to the portion A, by burning or otherwise cutting an opening through the locally treated portion, to the end of the wire form it. After forming the opening, additional curing solution is applied to the formed opening, in order to prevent adherence of material during the final dipping which provides the final coating and the outer wall of the recess.

Although bromine in alcohol solution is suitable for the local curing, there is a slight tendency for vaporization of the bromine and a resultant migration of the bromine vapor, which tends to produce an irregular edge for the treated area. It is therefore preferred for certain constructions to mix tale with the bromine solution and thus form a flowing paste which can be painted on the selected local area without spreading. The process thus includes a painting with semi-liquid paste, which is allowed to remain in place for a sufiicient time to obtain the local curing, and is then washed off; the surface is dried and is then ready for the final dipping.

Although I have described the invention is specifically applied to a retaining type catheter, it is obvious that the invention may be applied to any article which is made by dipping into a rubber or rubber like solution for producing a final article having a high degree of elasticity,

The preferred dipping solution is latex, which may be prevulcanized material having similar characteristics may be used; the article is first formed" to an intermediate stage, then a portion thereof is surface cured to prevent adherence, then the clipping is continued so to complete the article, whereby the completed article is an integral one piece article having an inner recess. The invention may be utilized for the manufacture of rubber articles in general, by dipping, surface curing, and then dipping again, to obtain one piece ar-' ticles having inner chambers, recesses, passageways, or openings.

7 Although I have describedthe rubber articlesas formed by dipping, any coating process may be used, the form being coated, then surface treated locally to prevent adherence over the 'treated area, and then coated again. Any coating material may thus be used to provide an integral finished product having inner recesses and the like. The surface curing agents are preferably in solution form, the halogen gases in alcohol being suitable for the described purpose, but may be of other materials, either solid, paste, liquid or gaseous, having the property of producing a local surface curing.

While I have described a specific constructional embodiment of my invention, it is obvious that changes in the manner of forming, in the materials used for the article and for the dip solution, in the materials used for the local surface curing, and in the arrangement of the parts for producing the desired completed internal recess and the formation of passageways leading thereto, may be made without departing f om the spirit and the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An integral one piece inflatable catheter having a bore and a wall recess spaced from the end, the wall of the catheter having a fluid passageway extending longitudinally thereof and communicating with said recess, the wall portion between the wall recess and the end having a discharge opening therethrough communicating with the bore, the catheter having a fluid inlet boss provided with a funnel shaped inlet communicating with said passageway.

2. An integral one-piece inflatable catheter including a tubular body member of soft rubber and substantially uniform external dimension from end to .end of predetermined character to correspond with the orifice to be treated and.

having a bore and a wall recess spaced from one end, the wall of the catheter having a fluid passageway extending longitudinally thereof from the other end and communicating with said recess, the wall portion between the wall recess and the first mentioned end having a discharge opening therethrough communicating with the bore.